


she's cheer captain (and I'm on the bleachers)

by mogirl97



Series: i think i know where you belong (i think i know it's with me) [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff, chapter 2 has a supercorp cameo, inspired by a tweet from SDCC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-06-15 13:56:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15414420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mogirl97/pseuds/mogirl97
Summary: “Quarterbacks secretly love nerds, but you have to put yourself out there.”“What about cheerleaders?” she had muttered under her breath, but if her mom heard her she didn’t comment.~A Dinahlicity High School AU~





	1. she's cheer captain (and i'm on the bleachers)

**Author's Note:**

> ok so someone tweeted the picture of Em and Juliana in the "class photo" photo shoot from SDCC and said they wanted a cheerleader/nerd romcom (here's the tweet: https://twitter.com/langdynes/status/1020774742381408256 ) and the idea was just too good to pass up so here ya go :D this might be a little ooc for Dinah, but hey it's an au so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Felicity walked past the track on her way out to the bus and hesitated for a moment when she caught sight of the cheerleading squad practicing. Standing with her hands on her hips, the golden highlights in her hair glinting in the sun as it cascaded in perfect waves over her shoulders, was the captain. _Dinah Drake._ Starling High’s sweetheart. Unconsciously, Felicity bit her lip and she took a small step closer to the fence surrounding the track. She was going to miss her bus...and have no way home if she waited any longer, but she was glued to the spot as Dinah called out commands to her squad.

From the first day of freshman year, she had developed a huge crush on the girl who sat in front of her in homeroom. In the three years since then, she had spoken a grand total of maybe three words to her. Dinah was the girl everyone noticed, Felicity was the kind of person who liked to be invisible. Before moving to Starling, she and her mom had rarely stayed in one place for longer than a year. It was easier to leave if no one was sad to see her go. She felt like she had been holding her breath for the past few years, waiting for her mom to tell her to pack her things, but now that she had made it to her senior year, she wondered if maybe she could finally exhale.

She was startled out of her daydreaming by the sound of the bus turning over it’s ignition and she took off in a run to hop on at the last minute.

* * *

“Hey.”

Felicity kept reading her textbook, assuming that it wasn’t her attention that someone was trying to get.  

“Felicity?”

Okay. Maybe it was.

She looked up and her eyes widened as she realized who it was that was speaking to her.

Dinah had twisted around in her chair and had an eyebrow raised, “It is Felicity, right?”

Blinking at her mutely, she felt a babble coming on that was going to be impossible to keep contained.

“Uh yep. Yeah that’s me. Felicity. Derived from the latin word felicitas, which means luck or good fortune, which might explain why I’m so good at blackjack. Actually I know how to count cards, that’s why I’m so---” She cut herself off, slamming her eyes shut in embarrassment. “Sorry. You probably just want to borrow a pencil, not listen to me babble.”

When she re-opened her eyes, Dinah was smiling at her, her eyes sparkling with amusement. She felt her cheeks go red and hoped a hole would open up in the floor for her to fall through. Whenever she imagined talking to Dinah once she finally worked up the courage to say something other than a muttered _“sorry”_ when she accidentally bumped into her in the hallway, it went a lot better in her head than whatever… _that_ was.

“Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to be my partner for the history project.” She shrugged her one shoulder flirtatiously (or at least, Felicity optimistically read it as a flirtatious gesture), “You’re pretty smart, right?”    

Felicity nodded the affirmative, not trusting herself to say anything. She didn’t think Dinah even knew she existed, let alone anything about her.

_Understandably, she’s questioning that particular fact though after I just word vomited all over her._

“You’re always the first one to finish tests. I figured you either write extremely fast, or you don’t have to make up bullshit answers.” Dinah leaned against the back of her chair, and the closer proximity had Felicity’s stomach doing cartwheels. She was fixated on all the colors in her eyes, the little mole above her mouth, the little details of her face that she rarely indulged herself a close look at. “So, we doing this?”

Felicity’s brow furrowed in confusion. She had imagined them doing a lot of things, but she was pretty sure that none of those scenarios were what Dinah was referring to.  

“Doing what?”

“You, me, history project….” Dinah gestured to the board, where their teacher had written the due date for their project before turning them loose for the remainder of the class period to get a head start on their homework if they wanted.

Her brain must’ve skipped over the part where she asked about that. She had just been planning on begging the teacher to let her do the project on her own…

Glancing around at some of Dinah’s friends from the cheer squad who were in their class, she didn’t understand why she was asking her instead of working with one of them. She decided not to question it too much.

“Yeah.” She waved her hands around in an attempt to seem nonchalant but that probably just made her look crazy. “Yeah sure. Let’s do it.”  

Dinah smiled widely at her and Felicity thought she might honestly die of a heart attack.

* * *

“Okay, this project is amazing. We’re going to get an A for sure.”

Felicity didn’t see the point in mentioning that she’d never gotten anything less than an A. She was finding it really hard to concentrate with Dinah hovering over her shoulder, but she forced herself to breathe like a normal person while she put the finishing touches on the code for the website that hosted their project.

They had decided to do theirs on _“underrated women who shaped history,”_ and for the past week and a half they had been meeting in the library during study hall to research and compile notes. The final bit had been mostly Felicity’s responsibility, since it involved writing the code for each profile on the site.

She had originally suspected that Dinah choosing her “because she was smart,” was code for, “I don’t care about this project, but I want a good grade and I know you’ll get it for me.” Dinah had been really enthusiastic about her idea though and pulled her fair share of the weight on the research.

As nervous as she had been about working with the girl she had a long-standing and (probably, definitely) unrequited crush on, she was really glad that Dinah had asked to be her partner. For whatever her reason. It would have been a lot less fun to work on the project alone. The downside of course was that their long hours in the library had only intensified her feelings for her. Once she had figured out how to form intelligible sentences around her, she had found that she was actually really easy to talk to. The real Dinah was even better than the one she had created in her daydreams.

She was sad that they were wrapping up their project because she was going to miss her.

“Okay.” She hit a few commands on her keyboard and her screen displayed their finished website. “We’re live.”

Dinah squeezed her shoulder, “You are a genius. I knew you were going to be the perfect partner.”

Dipping her head shyly to hide her blush, she mumbled, “Thanks.”

”See you at the game tomorrow night?” Dinah asked as she shrugged on her leather jacket.

Felicity had not attended a single football game during her entire three years of highschool. Mostly because the whole ordeal seemed like one awkward situation after another, beginning with who she would even sit with. And also because football was dumb.

She got enough of Dinah (and her gorgeously long, tan legs) in her cheer uniform in classes on game day without having to sit through a mind numbing evening of watching a bunch of egotistical boys fighting over a ball.

“I… uhh…maybe?” she offered as an answer, starting to pack up her things. “I’m probably going to have homework to do so…”

“Felicity.” Dinah reached over to still her actions by covering her hand with one of hers and it sent warmth spreading all the way up her arm.  

“It’s a Friday night,” Dinah dismissed her excuse. “You’ll have all weekend to do your homework.”

That wasn’t entirely true. She had picked up some extra shifts at work for the weekend, so she really would need Friday night to work on homework. But Dinah was looking at her so hopefully and she didn’t have the heart to tell her that, so she just repeated herself.

“Maybe.”

* * *

“Felicity, I think the game is over,” her mom observed as they pulled up to the school and people were starting to flood the parking lot. “Why didn’t you ask me to bring you sooner?”

She had been planning on bailing on the game entirely. When her mom came into her room though to tell her she was leaving for work and she had almost all of her homework finished, she had found herself asking if she could swing her by school on her way. Her mom constantly nagged her about her lack of a social life, so she was more than happy to oblige.

_“Quarterbacks secretly love nerds, but you have to put yourself out there.”_

_“What about cheerleaders?”_ she had muttered under her breath, but if her mom heard her she didn’t comment.

She hadn’t expected the game to be over, she thought she would at least be able to claim she saw some of it.

“It’s fine. I’m just going to go find some friends.” She leaned over to press a kiss to her mom’s cheek before opening the car door and sliding out. “Have a good night at work. See you in the morning.”

“Wait…how are you getting home?” her mom called after her.

Good question.

She waved a hand dismissively, “A friend.”

Hopefully.

She felt incredibly self-conscious as she navigated her way through the parking lot teeming with her classmates. Classmates she had never bothered to get the chance to know because she never expected to be at one school for the entirety of high school. She didn't think she had always been so socially awkward. It was just an unfortunate side effect of years of never feeling like she could make friends because her life had been a series of restarts in new places, with new people. But maybe that could finally change.

The overall vibe emanating off of everyone indicated to her that the game had ended victoriously for Starling High. Keeping an eye out for Dinah in the crowd, she hoped to find her quickly…

And then what?

She had just asked her if she was coming to the game. It hadn’t really been a personal invitation of any sorts. As captain of the cheer squad it was her job to get the students to support the team. That’s what she had been doing in encouraging her to be there.

Felicity suddenly felt stupid. And annoyed with herself, because now she had a long walk home ahead of her.  

She was about to turn around when she spotted Dinah walking out of the stadium. Her hair was pulled back in a wavy ponytail and she had glittery eyeshadow on that sparkled brightly in the reflecting parking lot lights. She had her leather jacket on over her uniform and the whole effect was… a lot. It was a lot.

Felicity’s already put out mood took another dip when she saw who was with her.

Dinah and Vince, the team’s quarterback, had been in an on and off again relationship all throughout high school.

Personally, she didn’t get it. Vince was handsome, she supposed, but from what she had observed he had the personality of a piece of cardboard.

She had thought the switch was currently flipped to off, but apparently she was wrong.

“C’mon baby.” She heard Vince say as he reached for Dinah’s hand. “We’re the king and queen of this place. I can’t show up to that victory party without you on my arm.”

Dinah snatched her hand away, looking annoyed at him.

_Hmmm._

Maybe she _was_ right about the switch being off.

“I already told you I’m not going. I’m not an accessory, and I’m not your girlfriend either. Try to remember that.”

Felicity realized way too late that she probably shouldn’t just be standing there watching their scene play out. It would be incredibly awkward if they noticed her.  

Just as she started to take a step back though, Dinah caught sight of her and her scowl turned to a relieved smile.

“Felicity!” Ditching an irritated looking Vince, she jogged over to her and threw her arms around her in a hug. Pulling away, she still kept a hold on her hands as she remarked, “I didn’t think you came. I didn’t see you.”

Felicity restrained herself from bursting into tears at the thought that someone had been looking for her. That _Dinah_ had been looking for her.

“I umm…” she was going to explain herself, but she didn’t get a chance because Dinah kept talking.

“I’m really glad you came.” Dinah squeezed her hands before releasing them, “You want to get celebratory milkshakes?”

She was quite confident Dinah could ask her to go eat live scorpions with her and she would say yes. But….

“Are you sure you don’t…” Felicity gestured halfheartedly at the other cheerleaders who were gathered around in the parking lot, several of them making out with various members of the football team.

“They’re all going to the party.” Dinah shook her head in annoyance, “And I’m not interested in having to go play _“king and queen”_ with my ex.”

Felicity tilted her head, “That does sound like it would suck.”

“Right?” Dinah looped her arm through hers to lead her over to her car. “So c’mon. You like Big Belly Burger?”

“Who doesn’t?” 

* * *

“Why did you ask me to be your partner for the history project?” she blurted out after the waitress who had brought them the milkshakes and fries they had ordered walked away from their booth. The question had been buzzing around in her mind, it was only a matter of time before she had to ask it. “I mean, we didn’t really know each other before, and you have friends in our class…”

Dinah laughed bitterly, “Do I?”

“Uhh…”

Dinah sighed and explained, “Vince cheated on me while I was away on vacation this summer. With not just one, but two of the girls from the squad. So… things have been a little awkward with my _friends_.”

“Oh.” Felicity fiddled with her straw. “I’m sorry.”

Dinah dipped two of their fries in her shake and shrugged, “It’s okay. I mean it gave me a reason to finally be done with him. For a while I thought we were just meant to be. The quarterback and the cheerleader, you know? It’s what everyone expects. But, honestly, his only personality trait is quarterback. And I’m more than just a cliche, right?”

She was looking at her expectantly with a genuine uncertainty on her face and Felicity nodded to reassure her, “Yeah. You could do so much better than him.”

_Like me. You could do me._

Dinah grinned, “So I decided, it’s my senior year, I’m going to stop wasting my time being who everyone thinks the cheer squad captain should be and do whatever I want.”

“So you befriended the nerd. How very early 2000s rom com of you,” Felicity teased before shaking her head in embarrassment over what it sounded like she was implying. “Not that I think--not that we--”

She was spared by the waitress arriving at their table with the check, which Dinah immediately scooped up.

“My treat.”

“No, no, no, no,” Felicity shook her head. “I can’t let you pay.” She reached into her jeans pocket and realized she hadn’t grabbed her wallet before leaving her house. “Okay, actually I do need you to pay. But I’ll pay you back.”

Dinah slipped a credit card out of her wallet, “Seriously Felicity, don’t worry about it.” She winked, “You can pay next time.”

A smile turned up the corners of her mouth at the thought of there being a “next time.”

“And… I asked you to be my partner because, like I said, I had a feeling you were smart,” Dinah finally offered as an answer to her original question. “But also because we’ve had classes together for the past three years and yet that was one of the only things I knew about you. I wanted to change that.” She suddenly looked shyer than Felicity ever remembered seeing her as she tucked a strand of her hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear and added, “I’m really glad I did.”

She was probably reading way too much into the whole situation and Dinah’s intentions were probably purely platonic but even so, Felicity felt her heart start hammering in her chest. Fiddling with her glasses, she replied, “Me too.”   

“So…” Dinah drummed her fingertips on the table. “What time do you have to be home?”

Felicity snorted, “I think I could be gone for three days before my mom finally noticed. She doesn’t really enforce any rules, much less a curfew. Plus she’s working a late shift at the club tonight.”   

“My parents are working an overnight shift tonight too. Instead of us both being home alone, you want to come over?”

“I---” She had a ten hour shift the next day and she probably should just let Dinah take her home, but... “Yeah. That would be nice actually.”

_Alexa, play Sleepover by Hayley Kiyoko._

* * *

Dinah pulled into the driveway of what was apparently her house and Felicity’s jaw dropped. It was gorgeous, and could probably fit her and her mom’s house inside of it five times over.

“Ummm… what did you say your parents do?”

“They’re both surgeons at Starling General. A real life Meredith and Derek. _Way_ less drama though.”

Felicity laughed, “Is that what you want do too? Go into the medical field?”

“Oh, no. I actually think I want to be a police detective.”

Felicity glanced over at her, “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She shrugged, “I read a lot of Nancy Drew when I was younger. I’ve always loved the idea of solving mysteries, helping people.”

Dinah parked in the garage, leading her into the house and up to her bedroom. For as often as she had thought about it, Felicity had never expected to actually find herself there. The walls were a soft blue gray—a color that was probably calming if you weren’t staring at your crush’s bed. There was a whole wall devoted to cheerleading stuff: pictures, competition trophies, an old megaphone and pair of pom poms.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Dinah spoke up, tossing her jacket into a chair by the door. “I’m going to take my makeup off. I learned the hard way what happens if I don’t get all the glitter off before falling asleep.”

She disappeared into the adjoining bedroom and Felicity looked around, trying to figure out how to possibly “make herself comfortable.”

Deciding on walking over to the cheerleading pictures to get a closer look at them, she laughed softly to herself at one of a Dinah who looked about six or seven years old. She had her same megawatt smile, but with a few missing teeth.

“I was pretty cute, wasn’t I?”

She turned to see that Dinah had emerged from the bathroom. Fresh faced and still looking like a goddess.

Felicity repressed a dreamy sigh and pulled herself together to provide a teasing response, “Yeah. What happened?”

“Hey!” Dinah grabbed a pillow off her bed and chucked it at her.

_You got hot. That’s what happened._

Dinah walked over to her dresser and opened a drawer to pull out some sweatpants and long sleeved t-shirts.

She offered one of the outfits to her, “Here. So you don’t have to sleep in your clothes.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

No part of her was prepared for when Dinah started stripping off her uniform right in front of her, completely unbothered by the fact she had an audience. She nearly dropped the clothes she was holding on the floor in shock before quickly averting her eyes to the floor. Turning around to face the corner of the room, she took a deep breath before toeing out of her shoes, slipping out of her jeans and sweatshirt, and putting on the clothes Dinah had given her.

She took a subtle sniff of the sleeve of the shirt and was pleased to discover that it smelled like her.

_Why are you so embarrassing? Why?_

“Do you want to watch something?” Dinah asked.

Felicity pivoted back around to see her holding the tv remote and nodded, “Yeah. Whatever you want.”

Dinah turned the tv on and tossed some of the pillows from her bed on the floor so she could pull the covers back and climb in. She patted the mattress beside her in invitation as she flipped through the channels.

Apparently every part of this evening was going to make Felicity feel like she was going to pass out.  

Giving herself a mental pep talk to relax, she joined her under the quilt, keeping enough distance between them so she wouldn’t accidentally bump her leg against hers.

Dinah stopped on an episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine where a scene with Rosa was currently playing and Felicity commented, “Okay. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before, but yeah, I can totally picture you as a police detective.”

Dinah nudged her shoulder with hers, “Right? I actually bought my leather jacket because of her.” She sighed, “She’s so hot.”   

Sirens went off in Felicity’s head.

_Okay but...even straight girls can acknowledge that Stephanie Beatriz is a work of art._

They continued watching the episode, providing commentary since it was one they had both already seen, and the nervous butterflies that had been fluttering around inside of her since she first got to Dinah’s started to settle. It felt more like another one of their afternoons in the library.

As long as she ignored the fact that she was wearing her clothes. And in her bed. And she had seen her almost naked.

_But hey, ignore all that and it’s totally chill!_

The episode ended and Dinah yawned, muting the tv as another episode started, “Sorry to be a total buzzkill, but I’m probably going to crash soon. Game days always wear me out. So much peppiness.”

Felicity looked over at her, “But you like it, right? Being a cheerleader?”

“I do.” She looked down at her hands, fiddling with the fabric of her comforter. “When everything happened with Vince this summer and I did some… reevaluating, I thought about quitting. Thought maybe I was only still doing it because I had based my whole identity on being _‘Dinah Drake, cheer squad captain.’_ But… I genuinely do love it. I have so many good memories from competitions growing up, and I couldn’t imagine a senior year without Friday nights under the lights in my uniform. And obnoxious glitter eyeshadow.” She shook her head, “You probably think it’s dumb but--”

“I don’t think it’s dumb,” Felicity assured her. “Now football, on the other hand…”

Dinah laughed, “I can’t really argue that. It’s a valid opinion. So, I appreciate you suffering through it to come see me tonight.”

Guilt pinched her chest. So she _had_ been specifically inviting her. She had wanted her to be there for _her._

Before she could give herself a chance to start over-analyzing that, she confessed, “Ummm… the truth is I got to the school after it was over. I didn’t make it for any of the game.”

“Oh.”

“I was doing homework.”  

Dinah huffed in amusement, “You nerd.” She rolled onto her side to face her, propping her head up on her hand, “It’s okay. We still got to hang out so... ”

Felicity mirrored her actions to reposition herself and the space she had put between them all but disappeared. “Yeah.”

“I would’ve had significantly less fun at that party, so thanks for rescuing me.”

”Anytime.”

Dinah smiled and the light from the tv reflected over some stray pieces of glitter that lingered on her face.

You missed some glitter,” Felicity remarked, reaching out to brush her fingertips across Dinah’s cheek. She didn’t think she imagined the way her breath caught at the gesture. The little lip bite. So of course she had to start babbling to kill the moment. “One time I heard someone refer to glitter as the herpes of the craft world because you can never really get rid of it and—oh my god.” She closed her eyes and muttered, “Why am I like this?”

Dinah laughed, “Like what?”

“A hot mess.”

“Well... hot is definitely accurate. But I don’t know about a mess.”

Felicity’s eyes flew open and she tried to remember how to form words as her brain processed what Dinah had said... while being distracted by the look on her face that could definitely not be mistaken for something other than blatant flirtatiousness.

Words ended up being unnecessary though because Dinah leaned in and pressed her lips to hers, her mouth soft and inviting. It was a kiss with a question mark on it.

And Felicity hoped the way she kissed her back was the answer she was looking for.

* * *

When Dinah dropped her off at her house the next morning, Felicity felt like she was floating on a cloud. Even her impending ten hours at Tech Village answering stupid questions didn’t seem so dreadful now. Waking up with the girl she had been pining after for years cuddled up to her side, her arm slung over her waist and her face pressed into the crook of her neck, really was an excellent mood booster.  

“I’ll call you after work,” she promised Dinah, leaning in for a quick parting kiss before sliding out of the passenger seat.

Dinah caught her arm, sliding her hand down to intertwine with hers and gave it a squeeze. “Okay.”

Walking up to her front door, she stole one last glance over her shoulder at Dinah and waved as she pulled away.

When she got inside, her mom was nursing a cup of coffee and flipping through a copy of Us Weekly, reenergizing herserself to go work a shift at her second job. Her eyebrows lifted when she looked up and saw that she was just getting home.

“Did you have a good night?”

She dipped her head coyly, “Yep.”

Her mom squinted, “What in the world is in your hair?”

Reaching up to pass her hand over her head, she came away with some pancake batter on her fingers from her and Dinah’s absolutely disastrous attempt to make breakfast.

_“Okay, so, neither of us can cook. Good to know. We should probably not attempt this again.”_

She smiled at the recollection and explained to her mom, “Pancake batter.”

“Ah.” Her mom took a sip of her coffee. “So what’s his name?” Before Felicity could correct her, her mom jumped into her next line of questioning, “You were safe, right? We talked about all that stuff, didn’t we? I mean, up until this point you haven’t exactly given me a reason to--”

“ _Her_ name is Dinah,” Felicity cut her off, bracing herself for how she would respond. 

“Oh. And you two are…?”

“Yeah.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth.  

Her mom exhaled, “Oh thank god. Men are garbage.” Pointing her mug at her, she added, “You were still safe though?”

“All we did was kiss," she assured her, amused by her reaction. "A lot. So much kissing…” her voice trailed off as she turned on her heel to head for the shower so she could de-pancake batter her hair before work.

* * *

“Felicity!”

She looked up from her spot on the bleachers where she had been doing homework in between sneaking peeks at the cheerleading practice. If she was being honest, she had been spending more time watching Dinah practice her back handspring than solving equations, but she didn’t mind the distraction.

Once Dinah had gotten her attention, some of the girls on her squad started to flip over signs.

_Will. You. Go. To. Home. Coming. With._

Dinah held up the last one with a hopeful smile.  

_Me?_

A grin spread across her face and she hopped down the bleachers as quickly and gracefully as possible to run towards the track. Dinah dropped her sign and wrapped her arms around her waist as Felicity rolled up on her toes to kiss her.

“Should I take that as a yes?” Dinah asked when she pulled back. She kept her hands on her hips to hold her close until she got an answer.

“Of course.” Felicity nodded and bit her lip to restrain her giddy smile. She had never gone to homecoming before. Never thought it would be something she would get so excited about the prospect of attending.

“Good.” Dinah tilted her head thoughtfully, “I think I’m going to wear a suit.”

“You would look good in a suit.”

She squeezed her hips teasingly, “I’m going to look _amazing_ in a suit.”


	2. study dates + double dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Up until a few weeks ago, her locker had been devoid of anything personal as she had been in the habit of avoiding getting attached to a place she could be plucked abruptly from. But her and her mom’s constant moving had finally come to a stop and she had given herself permission to grow fond of Starling. 
> 
> And Dinah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure if I was going to add more to this one-shot when I first wrote it, but I had a little inspiration for another little installment to this 'verse, so here ya go! Enjoy :D

Felicity opened her locker to stow the books for her afternoon classes and smiled at the pictures hanging inside. Up until a few weeks ago, her locker had been devoid of anything personal as she had been in the habit of avoiding getting attached to a place she could be plucked abruptly from. But her and her mom’s constant moving had finally come to a stop and she had given herself permission to grow fond of Starling. **  
**

_And Dinah._

The newest addition to her display of photos was one from homecoming the week before. Dinah was dressed in her promised suit--looking as amazing as she said she would--and Felicity had on the burgundy off the shoulder dress she had picked out during the marathon shopping excursion her mom had taken her on. 

They were both draped in sashes bearing their titles and crowned with tiaras that rivaled Dinah’s gameday eyeshadow in sparkling brilliance. For the first time in its history, Starling High had elected two Homecoming Queens, thanks to the campaign efforts of the cheerleading squad and some members of the football team.

Not including Vince, who didn’t take to his ex-girlfriend’s new relationship status very well (and learned that when you call someone a dyke and a bitch in earshot of the principal, you get suspended from playing in the homecoming football game).

_Tiny violins for you sir. Microscopic Violins._

Felicity had been reluctant about the whole thing since she was still getting used to people at school actually being aware of her existence, but she had to admit, she looked pretty good in a crown. Her mom had been over the moon.

She had just closed her locker door when she felt familiar arms wrap around her waist.  

“Good morning.”

Tipping her head back, she looked up at Dinah and smiled, “Good morning.”

Dinah spun her around to face her, “Sorry I couldn’t pick you up this morning. I brought you a cronut to make up for it.”

“I rode the bus for over three years, it’s not that bad.” Felicity plucked the Jitter’s bag out of her hand and rolled up onto her toes to press a kiss to her cheek, “But I will always accept sugary fried dough reparations.”  

Dinah looped her arm through hers for them to walk to homeroom, “Just wait until Hanukkah, my dad makes the _best_ sufganiyot.”

Felicity could practically taste the sweet donuts and she sighed blissfully, “Yummm.”

“Do you have to work Friday night, or can you make the game?” Dinah asked as they turned down the hallway and passed a banner announcing the match-up.

They had made it to the first round of playoffs and the game on Friday was apparently a highly anticipated one against National City, according to the buzz in the halls that week. Felicity still cared very little for football and couldn’t be bothered to keep up with what was happening on the field, but she made an effort to get to the games to be on the receiving end of one of Dinah’s beaming smiles when she saw her in the stands.

“I’ll be there. I swapped shifts with Curtis, so I’m working tonight instead.”

“Does that mean you’re bailing on our study date?”

“Not bailing… it’s just going to have to be later. Can you pick me up from work at 8:00?”

* * *

Felicity finished ringing up a customer and checked the clock to see that Dinah should be arriving any minute, signaling the end of her shift. There was no one else waiting in line at her register, so she decided to kill the rest of the time by reorganizing a display.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for someone to help me cram for my chem exam?”

Looking up from her pyramid of processors, she smiled at her girlfriend, “I think I might be able to assist you with that. Give me one second.”  

Clocking out, she said goodbye to her coworkers and found Dinah wandering aimlessly through  an aisle of cameras.  

Dinah smirked and smoothed her hands over the top of Felicity’s shoulders, “This blue polo and khaki combo is really your hottest look.”

Felicity rolled her eyes, “Every minute I spend here just fuels my desire to have a job someday that doesn’t mandate a uniform. And pays more than minimum wage.”

Dinah dipped her head down for a quick kiss. “I have no doubt you’ll eventually be running the world in Louboutins.”

At Dinah’s house it was quiet, with both of her parents still at the hospital. In the kitchen, Dinah offered her a brownie from a pan that was set out on the counter, remarking that her dad must have had a stressful surgery scheduled that day.

“He wakes up at like 2am and stress bakes before like, heart transplants and stuff.” Dinah took a bite of her brownie. “Not that I’m complaining about waking up to the smell of chocolate filling the house.”

Felicity shook her head in amusement, “If my mom adopted a 2am stress baking habit, I would wake up to our smoke alarms going off and burnt-to-the-crisp baked goods.”

They went up to Dinah’s room and Felicity dug through her backpack to pull out the pair of leggings and sweatshirt she had packed to change into.

Shimming out of her khakis, she asked Dinah what she had been up to all evening.

“Cheer practice, some homework, a half-hearted attempt at studying for this exam without you that turned into four episodes of _Law and Order: SVU_ …” Dinah admitted.

Felicity joined her on the bed where she had her chemistry notes spread out, “Sounds very productive.”

They dove into reviewing all the topics for their exam before calling it a night around midnight when they both felt like their brains were thoroughly saturated with molecular formulas and equations.

“Just sleep over...” Dinah suggested sleepily, patting the spot on the mattress next to her when Felicity attempted to motivate herself to resist the comfort of being cuddled up in bed to call her mom and see if she could pick her up on her way home from her shift.

“I don’t know… it’s a school night…” Felicity argued halfheartedly.

“So? It’ll save me the time of picking you up in the morning...”

“Oh so that’s the reason you want me to stay,” Felicity teased. “Time management.”

Dinah sat up and reached out to play with the curl around her face that had stubbornly resisted being straightened that morning, “Among other things.”

“Are you sure your parents won’t mind?” she asked, tapping her phone against her thigh in deliberation.

“Like _99.9%_ sure. I mean, as long as we make it to school, why does it matter? And they won't even know anyway. They’re not home yet, which means they’re going to end up staying the night at the hospital.” Dinah pouted, “Please.”

“Okay fine…” Felicity sighed as Dinah began to trail kisses down her neck. “You’ve convinced me.”

* * *

The major downside to having a sleepover on a school night was the sound of Felicity’s alarm going off at 6:00am to signal it was time to drag herself out of bed. A feat that was made even more difficult by the arms that were wrapped tightly around her.

“Five more minutes,” Dinah muttered, burying her face deeper in the crook of Felicity’s neck.

“Five minutes will turn into fifteen, which will turn into being late for school.” Felicity extracted herself from Dinah’s embrace. “I’ll go make us some coffee while you find me something of yours to wear. It’s too early in the year to show up in my pajamas, and as sexy as I look in my Tech Village uniform, I’m not supposed to wear that off hours.” Felicity smoothed Dinah’s messy bed head off of her forehead to press a kiss there. “Try to remember I’m a good three inches shorter than you.”

Felicity padded downstairs, humming along to a song she had stuck in her head, before coming to an abrupt stop when she was met at the bottom of the stairwell by Dinah’s mom.

“Mrs--Dr. Drake. Ummm hi. Good morning.”

_Didn’t expect to see you here._

Dr. Drake gave her an amused smile over her coffee, “Good morning Felicity.”

“I umm--Dinah and I were studying for an exam and it got late so… I spent the night.”

“I see.”   

Felicity turned a deep shade of pink and unconsciously fiddled with the hem of her sweatshirt, regretting her decision not to put some pants on before going downstairs.

_In my defense, the house was supposed to be empty._

“Dinah said you wouldn’t mind,” she blurted out. "So..." 

“It’s fine Felicity.” Dr. Drake waved a hand dismissively and Felicity noticed the heavy dark circles under her eyes from her long night. She wondered if it was only fine because Dr. Drake was too tired to care. “Good luck on your exam. There’s a pot of coffee made, help yourself.”

“Thanks.” Felicity awkwardly skirted around her to continue her walk to the kitchen.

After she had poured two mugs of the freshly brewed coffee, she hurried back up to Dinah’s room.

“That was fast,” Dinah remarked, rifling through her closet and stopping on a gray sweater. “How do you feel about wearing--”

“Yeah it was fast, because your _mom_ had already made coffee. Nothing awkward about having a conversation with your girlfriend’s mom while you’re pantsless.”

Dinah pivoted around with an apologetic look on her face, “Sorry. I really wasn’t expecting either of them to come home.”

“Do your parents… like are they okay--” Felicity gestured between them, “--With this?”

“Why wouldn’t they be?” Dinah walked over to her and slung her arms around her waist, “My parents are okay-- _more than okay_ \--with anything that makes me happy.” Felicity tipped her head back in invitation for a kiss that Dinah accepted before pulling away and crinkling her brow, “Although I guess if doing crack made me happy they wouldn’t be okay with that. Let’s amend it to, ‘makes me happy and is good for me.’”

Felicity shook her head in amusement before kissing her again.

* * *

Felicity shivered and pulled her scarf tightly around her face as she waited in the long pre-game rush line at the concession stand. Fall was starting to fade into Winter and she knew she wasn’t going to make it through the game without a cup of coffee warming her hands and insides. How Dinah didn’t freeze to death in her cheer uniform was a mystery.

She was shifting her weight back and forth between her heels and toes when she lost her balance and bumped into the girl standing in front of her.

“Sorry. So sorry,” Felicity hastily apologized.

“It’s okay,” the girl assured her with a friendly smile when she glanced back to see who had jostled her. Her face was unfamiliar and Felicity figured she was there to support their opponent that evening.

Seeing as the line wasn’t moving anytime soon, Felicity decided to attempt to spark up a conversation to kill time, “So... are you a football fan or just here to watch your boyfriend?”

The girl turned back around at the inquiry and laughed, “No and _definitely_ no. But I am here to watch my girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Felicity brightened at the commonality, “My girlfriend is a cheerleader too.”

“Mine’s actually the QB.” Extending a hand, she introduced herself, “Lena.”

“Felicity.” She shook Lena’s hand and her words registered. “Wait… your girlfriend’s the quarterback?”

Lena nodded, “Yes.”

Felicity arched an eyebrow, “Is she good?”

“Well I’m probably a bit biased... but our winning record isn’t.” There was an edge of defensiveness in Lena’s voice, mixed with pride, “So yes, she’s quite good.”

Tipping her head back in excited anticipation, Felicity remarked, “Oh this is going to be the best game ever.”

“Umm…?”

“My girlfriend’s ex is our QB and he’s a dick.” Felicity explained, watching Lena’s confused expression shift to one of amusement. “Nothing will be more satisfying than watching him get knocked down a few pegs by a girl.”

They talked some more, finding that they had some similar interests, their dream college in particular. The easy conversation made the rest of the wait to make it to the front of the line pass quickly. Felicity placed her order for coffee with a generous helping of sugar and cream, accepting it gratefully and allowing the steam coming off of it to tickle her face with warmth.

“Are you here by yourself, or do you have someone to sit with?” Felicity asked Lena as they walked away from the concession stand.

Lena tipped her head to the side and Felicity followed her gaze to a man dressed in a crisply tailored suit who was keeping a close proximity to them.

“Luthors are never alone,” Lena explained with a faint hint of annoyance. “But also, my girlfriend’s older sister is here too, and she’s waiting for me back at our seats. If you want to sit with us…”

“Seeing as I’m mostly just here to watch the cheer squad, I should probably stick to the home side.” Felicity smiled warmly, “But thanks for the offer, and it was nice meeting you.”

“It was nice meeting you too Felicity.”

With a wave, Lena walked off, her bodyguard in tow, and Felicity headed for the bleachers to find a seat. By halftime, it was clear that-- _barring a miracle_ \--National City was going to thoroughly destroy them. Felicity couldn’t help the small disloyal smile that appeared on her face at the sight of Vince stalking angrily up and down the sidelines whenever they were on defense and he had to watch the girl wearing the jersey emblazoned with “Danvers” make pass after completed pass.

In the parking lot after the game ended, Felicity waited for Dinah to emerge from the stadium. Spotting her, she walked over to greet her with a kiss before frowning sympathetically, “So I guess that’s it for the playoff season?”

“Yeah. We were expecting that to be a tough one, but I thought we would at least have a chance.” Dinah shrugged, “I’m sad for the guys-- _some_ of them, but I’m not sad that the season is over before it gets even colder.” She pulled her leather jacket tighter around her. “Besides, now we can focus on preparing for our competition which is what I care more about anyway.”

_So there. It wasn’t too horrible for me to be secretly rooting for the other team. It was purely out of a desire for my girlfriend not to die of hypothermia._

Felicity turned her head at the sound of a familiar laugh and saw Lena being carried bridal style by the girl she recognized from the field as the quarterback.

“Stop being such a show-off Kara,” she heard Lena chastise her girlfriend half heartedly.

“You said you were cold, I’m just getting you to your car faster,” Kara teased.

Felicity reached for Dinah’s hand to lead her over to them to offer congratulations as Kara put Lena back onto her feet and tucked her against her side.

“Great game,” Felicity congratulated Kara. “That pass you made in the fourth quarter was amazing.”

Dinah shook her head in amusement, muttering, “The one time she actually pays attention, we get completely demolished.”

“Thanks,” Kara smiled with a hint of confusion on her face, probably over whether or not she was supposed to know who they were.

“Kara, this is Felicity,” Lena introduced them. “We met in the concession line. And this is…”

“Dinah,” Dinah supplied. “Congratulations Kara. You played really well tonight. And I have a lot of respect for you holding your own with the boys like you do.”

Lena patted Kara’s arm affectionately, “Please don’t inflate her ego anymore. It’s very close to popping.”   

“Hey KD! Hurry up, I’m famished!” one of the guys from the National City team called from where he was waiting by the bus.

“Coming!” Kara called before turning to Lena, “You’ll meet us there, right? Coach says we’re going to Big Belly.”

“Oh I don’t know… I think I’ll just order some room service back at the hotel.”

Kara gasped dramatically, “Lena Luthor turning down Big Belly Burger?”

“Kara, I love you. I do _not_ love hanging out with you and your entire team...”

“Please… I warned the guys that is any of them try to hit on you again, I will crush their skull.”

Lena rolled her eyes to hide the smile that was threatening to turn up the corners of her mouth. She looked over at them hopefully, “I know we just met but...maybe you two would like to join us? Give me someone to talk to when this one--” She tilted her head at Kara, “--inevitably gets dragged away to engage in a milkshake drinking contest?”

“That was _one_ time,” Kara insisted. She looked over at Felicity and Dinah, “And it was a decisive victory.”

Felicity had enjoyed talking to Lena when they met earlier, and Kara had an instant likability to her. She wouldn’t mind hanging out with them a little bit. Not to mention, she was hungry.

Looking up at Dinah with a quirked eyebrow, she asked, “You up for crashing our opponent’s victory dinner?”

Dinah shrugged, “I’m not going to turn down a shake and fries.”  

They followed behind the bus to Big Belly and found a booth in the back corner that wasn’t being monopolized by football players.  

“So how’d you guys meet?” Felicity asked once Kara had joined their booth after making her rounds to the other tables to steal fries and share in the celebratory camaraderie with her teammates.

Kara slung an arm across Lena’s shoulder, “We had AP calculus together our Freshman year.”

Felicity’s eyes widened in surprise as she took a sip of her milkshake and Kara grinned, “What? I’m not just a dumb jock.”

Dinah brandished a french fry at them, “Okay, but how long did the mutual pining, while being “just friends,” last before one of you finally made the first move?”

Lena and Kara looked at each other before Kara offered up sheepishly, “Embarrassingly long.”

Dinah glanced over at Felicity with an amused smile, “Sounds about right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come talk to me on tumblr @mogirl97 and twitter @mo_writes :D


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